9

We've discussed naming our chat room before, but never came to a conclusion. Let's do this again, with two changes:

  • We now know that this site will be launched out of beta in about a week, B"H, under the name Mi Yodeya. A close-to-final draft of the design should be posted here on meta soon.

  • Please put exactly one name idea, along with why you like it, in each answer. Even minor variations on an idea should each get one answer. That way, it will be easier to determine through voting which name the community likes best.

Feel free to re-use names proposed in the previous discussion, whether you proposed them or not. If you use someone else's idea, it'd be nice to give credit, of course.

Followup post: Final Vote to name Mi Yodeya's chat room

13
  • We're allowed to vote for more than one, right?
    – jake
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:22
  • 1
    @jake, Yes; as many as you want.
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:23
  • Maybe we should have a run-off of the top three? We could make it one person, one vote by asking everyone to leave a "vote" comment on exactly one of the three. Of course, the ballot wouldn't then be secret.
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 14:09
  • @IsaacMoses Doesn't stackexchange have the capability to do secret one-per-person votes for mods? is there a way to borrow the technology?
    – Double AA Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 18:44
  • Alternatively, anyone who votes should leave a comment on the question saying they voted, and we will count and make sure the totals match.
    – Double AA Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 18:44
  • @DoubleAA re "Alternatively...": that doesn't seem to serve much purpose. If we're really worried someone will deliberately game the system, that won't stop him; if our concern is someone will err, we can simply ask people to double-check their votes (it's readily apparent how many you voted for); and if we're not concerned about errors at all, then there's no need for any way of barring duplicates.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 19:38
  • 1
    @IsaacMoses, yeah, a run-off among the top three (which currently have 5 or 6 net votes; others have 3 or fewer) sounds good, either by one-person one-vote or (perhaps better) by the Borda count.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 19:44
  • @msh210 I don't follow. If we are worried someone will vote twice, then they would have to leave two comments or we would know something was fishy. We see the total number of votes case, and the total number of people who claim to have voted. Those two numbers should match.
    – Double AA Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 19:45
  • @DoubleAA what if someone votes twice and leaves one comment? How will we know who it was?
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 19:46
  • @msh210 We won't. We'd have to trash the results and try again. The realization that this would happen would discourage people from trying to cheat.
    – Double AA Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 19:47
  • @DoubleAA re "is there a way to borrow the technology?", I can ask an SE employee, but I'm predicting the answer will be "it's not worth it for something like this".
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 19:47
  • @DoubleAA ...and, yes, the answer was what I'd predicted.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 20:08
  • See also chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/4572844#4572844 et seq.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 20:13

27 Answers 27

Reset to default
7

V'dibarta Bam

("And speak of [alt.: with] them")

  • Quote from Deut. 6:7 and pretty much a familiar phrase to most any Jew who's been to Hebrew school.
  • Double meaning: (1) "Speak of them" [i.e. the mitzvos of the Torah], encouraging people to chat about Torah topics. (2) "Speak with them" [i.e. the other people in the room], promoting the often more chatty environment that takes place in the chat room.

Selected as the room's name by run-off vote

4
  • Nice one!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 23:32
  • Nice, but the double entendre doesn't really work in (at least Biblical) Hebrew, where "with [people]" would be itam (or imam or imahem or eshem sometimes).
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 20:06
  • 1
    @msh210: וישב המלאך הדבר בי (Zech. 4:1).
    – Alex
    Commented May 18, 2012 at 21:23
  • @Alex, y'yasher kochacha.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 20, 2012 at 3:10
7

Chiddush Club

  • Instead of a Kiddush Club, we can have a Chiddush Club. We can share with each other our chiddushim on the weekly Parashah shel Shavua as well as other topics related to Judaism. It will be a club in the aspect that we can be friendly with each other and welcoming to each other and of course to all newcomers who are interested in learning more about what it means to be Jewish.

(Parenthetically, we can be metakein (we can repair or correct) the negative connotations that are associated with Kiddush Club into something positive.)

1
  • Very clever, +1.
    – Dave
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 2:29
5

The Beit Midrash

A variant on "Beis Medrash" that transliterates the Sefaradi / Modern Hebrew pronunciation of this phrase.

1
  • Why should the chat in specific be The Beit Midrash; isn't the entire website similar to one?
    – Adam Mosheh
    Commented May 14, 2012 at 22:06
5

Ta Sh'ma

A talmudic phrase meaning "come hear", often used when the g'mara is about to bring diverse viewpoints.

In a way this is the inverse of "Tzei Ul'mad" (which I also like); that one, with "go", focuses on the point of origin (the main site), while this one, with "come", focuses on the destination (the chat room).

6
  • How about Ta Chazi (come and see)? That is the Eretz Yisraeli version of the Bavli "Ta Shma" (come and hear). I think it would be better than Ta Shma because you read the answers on your computer, not listen to them. meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/a/1068/1059
    – Adam Mosheh
    Commented May 6, 2012 at 3:05
  • 1
    @AdamMosheh, thanks -- I didn't know ta chatzi before. Is it well-known in general? (Most people know Bavli better than Yerushalmi in my limited experience.) BTW, even though Bavli says ta sh'ma, we read the discussion. :-)
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 6, 2012 at 13:34
  • We only read it from a written text nowadays because it is written and we don't know it from memory. It used to be a relatively new phenomenon to study Oral Torah from a codified written text, but in those days it was still pretty rare IIUC. (R' Yehuda Hanasi innovated this.)
    – Adam Mosheh
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 20:08
  • Can't Ta Shma also mean "Come Understand"?
    – Adam Mosheh
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 20:09
  • @AdamMosheh, sure, we read it because we don't learn it (exclusively) orally any more. I just meant that we can apply sh'ma to written talmud and to written chat both. (It could also mean "understand"; I said "hear" because that's the translation of "ta sh'ma" I'm used to, but it's a poor word that can be understood only one way. :-) )
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 20:49
  • Understand works better nowadays IMHO because you can just read it in order to learn, without even speaking. But then you have to wonder why Hashem created vocal cords...
    – Adam Mosheh
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 21:52
5

Sichas Chulin

'אמר רב המנונא אמר רב שאפילו שיחת חולין של ת"ח צריכה תלמוד' (Avoda Zara 19b)

3
  • It's a little long-winded. Can we stick with "sichas chullin"?
    – jake
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 22:08
  • @jake done.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
    – ertert3terte
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 22:10
  • Oh! Didn't even notice your link.
    – Double AA Mod
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 18:46
3

Daber Davar: an allusion to Isaiah 58:13.

I think it is simple and easy to read for a non-hebrew speaker. It is easily explainable as "speaking of things". And I think it is kinda catchy!

Suggested by jake here.

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  • 2
    A non-Hebrew-speaker would probably read the first word as "Daiber."
    – Dave
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 20:01
  • 1
    Nothing is fool proof. But I think this one has a leg up on, say anything with a Chet sound.
    – Double AA Mod
    Commented May 6, 2012 at 4:52
  • @Dave, I speak no language except Hebrew and English, but when I come across a word (in the Latin alphabet) which is obviously not English or transliterated Hebrew, I generally assume an a is pronounced like a patach or the vowel in the English word con, an e like an Israeli tzere, an i like an Israeli chirik, an o like an Israeli cholam, and a u like a Spanish u. I doubt most anglophones assume vowels are pronounced in foreign languages as they are in English.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 6, 2012 at 5:06
  • Issur on Shabbos bad Idea
    – simchastorah
    Commented May 7, 2012 at 5:05
  • 2
    @simchashatorah being here on shabbos is a bad idea.
    – ertert3terte
    Commented May 7, 2012 at 16:57
  • 1
    @ShmuelBrin - Why can't someone print out chat transcripts before shabbos begins to read them during shabbos?
    – Adam Mosheh
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 21:53
3

(from https://judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/a/524)

Tarbeh Sichah

is a quote from pirke Avos which means literally "you'll increase speech" or, more idiomatically, "you'll talk a lot". (It's part of a longer sentence there that means "Don't talk a lot with women".)

It's a fitting description of a Stack Exchange chat room: when a comment section on the main site gets too long (between two people), the software hints that that area is not for "extended discussions" and that they should move it to a chat room.

4
  • 1
    I like the root form "sichah" for the chat room, as it is the closest fitting Hebrew word, I think. It's unfortunate though, that it often comes in negative contexts such as this example from Pirkei Avos. Also "Siach Sifsoseinu" would be nice if it weren't a sin that we do vidui for every year. The only time it seems to come in a positive context is when associated with prayer, like the examples I gave here, but then that has no connection to a chat room.
    – jake
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:28
  • 1
    Actually, I just thought of one place where it is used in a positive context: "שיחת תלמידי חכמים צריכה לימוד".
    – jake
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:42
  • @jake, meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/a/1057
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:57
  • 1
    Nice. I didn't think of that one. Although the association of "sichah" with prayer is probably what prompted Chazal to say that that verse refers to Yitzchak instituting tefilas mincha.
    – jake
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 22:00
2

Ani Yodeya

("I know")

  • Goes nicely with "Mi Yodeya"

  • Can be used as a URL: http://ani.yodeya.com (and is, currently, but that won't necessarily be permanent)

  • Refers to people's ability to speak their mind in chat

Con:

  • Pure Hebrew.
2
  • 1
    This would be a good name for the FAQ (if we named FAQs). :-)
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 20:10
  • @MonicaCellio, we could potentially point a special URL at the FAQ if we want.
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:01
2

Tzei Ul'mad

("Go and learn")

  • Another quote from the Haggada!
  • Has the implication of "going out" from the main site.
  • Hopefully will serve as encouragement for people to use the chat room for Torah learning.
2

Prozdor

This is a room so it seems appropriate. It is a room where hanging around happens because it is by definition subordinate to another room. And it is rare enough that its very mention brings to mind "העולם הזה פרוזדור לעולם הבא", which could be a good analogy for the chayei sha'a vs. chayei olam relationship between chat and main.

4
  • 1
    It's also short, catchy, and easy to spell.
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Commented May 6, 2012 at 5:33
  • 2
    Only problem: it may also evoke a different association, as in Niddah 2:5.
    – Alex
    Commented May 7, 2012 at 3:00
  • 6
    @Alex Point taken. At least there would not be 'prozdor' and 'makor' on the same front page.
    – WAF Mod
    Commented May 7, 2012 at 4:00
  • 3
    @WAF: I wonder if those kids start out learning in cheder, then... :)
    – Alex
    Commented May 7, 2012 at 13:49
2

Pok Chazi

Inspired by Adam Mosheh, though this one is Babylonian Aramaic. It means "Go out and see," so that like jake's Tzei Ul'mad it suggests "going out" of the main site; and the full expression is "pok chazi mai ama d'var" ("go out and see what the people say") - the last two words of that are yet another possibility.

2
  • Isn't it Puk Chazi?
    – Adam Mosheh
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 2:29
  • @AdamMosheh: In common pronunciation, yes. But Steinsaltz punctuates it with a cholam, and I believe (though I'd have to research it further) that this is more grammatically correct.
    – Alex
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 13:33
1

My Two Zuzim (suggested by avi).

3
  • 1
    My Two Zuzim Why? - It's fitting for a chat room given that we are all just saying "our two cents" - Yet it's Jewish enough by substituting the name of a Jewish coin of small monetary value - It has a catchy ring to it and good rhythm - And as a bonus, it already has a certain level of fame, as the phrase is found in Chad Gadya Possible con: the full meaning may not be well understood in places other than America as it is an American idiom.
    – yydl
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 2:28
  • @yydl, I've made your separate answer a comment here instead; please feel free to upvote this answer.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 2:43
  • @yydl, or feel free to add that to the post itself.
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 14:14
1

Itmar

Refers to the very common Talmudic phrase introducing an Amoraic statement about a new idea or an idea that is tangentially related to the previous topic. The statement that follows is often somewhat chatty in nature, or else is picked apart in a chatty back and forth ("Did he really say that? I heard it this way...").

Pro: Not Hebrew (is that really a pro?)

Con: Pure Aramaic (is that really a con???)

1

Kulanu Yode'im

("We all know")

  • Another variation of the whole "yodeya" theme, which is more inclusive sounding and implies multiple parties.
  • Reminiscent of the Haggada (אפילו כולנו חכמים... כולנו יודעים את התורה).
  • Not too difficult for the non-Hebrew speaker to say.
1

Lasuach Basadeh

inspired by jake's comments above

Literally "to converse in the field", it's a quote from Gen. 24:63.

As in another answer, the "field" reference here may bear the implication of leaving the home site.

1

I like "The Beis Medrash" (like Avi suggested there) - we both learn and do devarim beteilim there, just like in the real one.

6
  • 2
    Asking because women aren't welcome at my local kollel's beit midrash so I don't have much experience: is the kind of light-hearted, sometimes well-off-topic banter that we get in our chat room sometimes something you would expect in a beit midrash? (In my egal community yes, but I don't know if it's typical.)
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 20:09
  • 3
    @MonicaCellio, Quite often, yes. Although ideally in a beit midrash, the discussion remains on Torah topics and idle chatter and banter is kept to a minimum. In fact for the kollel men who are paid to learn for a certain amount of hours a day, it may very well be considered stealing from the public for them to stray off topic during learning hours.
    – jake
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 20:23
  • 2
    I think I like this one the best. Only problem is it's not invariant to different pronunciation systems. Is it "Beis Medrash" or "Beit Midrash"?
    – jake
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:32
  • 2
    @jake, I vote for transliterating it like they do in Israel. But then, I'm not Ashkenazi. :-)
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 23:29
  • 3
    @jake I think that's a big problem (ie even if we pick one, half the community will find it forever odd to type the other one). Perhaps you should suggest the Israeli variant as a separate answer?
    – Double AA Mod
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 5:13
  • 1
    I've added a few variants: meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/a/1060/2 , meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/a/1061/2 , meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/a/1062/2
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 15:06
1

Ama D'var

Means "the people say" - a spinoff of my other suggestion.

1
  • 1
    I suspect that pok chazi may ama d'var means "go see what the people accepts", with d'var literally "takes" (as in Onkelus on Sh'mos 4:20, vayikach = udvar) or "go see what the people practices" with d'var literally "leads" (as in Onkelus to Sh'mos 3:1, vayinhag = udvar; cf. Hebrew nohagin). Anyway, +1 for the name if you're right, and all the more so (for the pun) if I am.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 7, 2012 at 5:59
0

(from https://judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/a/527)

Vedaber Davar

is a quote from, IIRC, Isaiah, which means "and speak things" or "and speak words". It's a known phrase because it's used in the exegetical analysis of what's permitted and forbidden on Shabas and because it's said by some as part of Shabas morning kidush.

4
  • 1
    Does this include the version without the vav? Or should I post that separately?
    – Double AA Mod
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 2:57
  • @DoubleAA: "Even minor variations on an idea should each get one answer." (From the question.)
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 4:05
  • Are prohibitions and permissibilities the most essential aspects of Jewish Life and Learning?
    – Adam Mosheh
    Commented May 6, 2012 at 2:57
  • @AdamMosheh, no, I chose the phrase because it means "and speak things", which I think is appropriate for a chat room. My mentioning its use in exegesis and kidush is only to ameliorate any feeling that it's too obscure a phrase for use.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented May 6, 2012 at 4:29
0

Beth Hamidrash

A variant on "Beis Medrash" that uses standard old-fashioned transliteration to get around the issue of choosing a pronunciation scheme.

0

How about:

mi.nyan

Not sure how it would work with the yodeya URL yet.

1
  • 5
    While there is frequently much talking in the minyan, it's not one of our finer qualities. :-) Cute idea, though!
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 0:16
-1

Just My Two Zuzim

Why?

  • It's fitting for a chat room given that we are all just saying "our two cents"
  • Yet it's Jewish enough by substituting the name of a Jewish coin of small monetary value
  • It has a catchy ring to it and good rhythm
  • And as a bonus, it already has a certain level of fame, as the phrase is found in Chad Gadya

Possible con: the full meaning may not be well understood in places other than America as it is an American idiom.

2
  • Also, it's not a noun.
    – HodofHod Mod
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 2:30
  • @HodofHod I assume you mean that as a con?
    – yydl
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 2:34
-1

Let's Shmooze

This one requires no Hebrew skills, and is a phrase instantly understood (with all its implications) by most people with a modicum of Jewish knowledge. It also has the distinct benefit of perfectly describing what the chat room is all about!

-2

Lo Yodeya

("[I] don't know")

  • Goes nicely with "Mi Yodeya."

  • Can be used as a URL: http://lo.yodeya.com (currently points to the now-long-defunct blog that I maintained during the early mi.yodeya days, but that won't necessarily be permanent).

  • Tongue-in-cheek indication that not everything said in chat is necessarily accurate.

Con:

  • Pure Hebrew

  • Could be confused with the old blog, if anyone is still aware of the latter.

-3

Bei Midrasha

A variant on "Beis Medrash" (in Aramaic) whose pronunciation people would all pretty much agree on.

-4

Kiddush Club (suggested by moshe and jake).

6
  • 2
    Call me a stick in the mud, but I strongly disapprove of the most common meaning of this term.
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 2:50
  • @IsaacMoses, oh, oops. I gather that the common meaning you have in mind is a bunch of men with a bottle of vodka during musaf? Yeah, not what I intended.
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 14:44
  • 1
    @MonicaCellio, Scotch would be more like it.
    – Seth J
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 18:11
  • @MonicaCellio - or during the Haftara.
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:00
  • ou.org/pdf/5765/Kiddush%20Club.pdf
    – jake
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:08
  • 1
    Ok, I withdraw the suggestion, so since I can't down-vote consider this comment another -1. (Keeping it for the record rather than deleting it seems appropriate to me, but I don't mind if others think it should go.)
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 21:18
-4

Mi amar el mi?

("Who said to whom?")

  • This question form may be familiar to many as a standard school exercise in Bible classes.

  • It is linked to "Mi Yodeya" by the first word.

  • It represents a question that frequently comes to people's minds in chat when there are multiple threads of conversation going on at once.

Con:

  • It's pure Hebrew.
4
  • Isn't there an Avraham Fried song with that name?
    – ertert3terte
    Commented May 4, 2012 at 2:22
  • @ShmuelBrin, Are you referring to this?
    – jake
    Commented May 4, 2012 at 4:06
  • @jake yes, at least I think so (I'll have to wait a week to hear it)
    – ertert3terte
    Commented May 4, 2012 at 4:07
  • @ShmuelBrin, Oh, so then no.
    – jake
    Commented May 4, 2012 at 4:07
-4

Ta Chazi - Aramaic for "Come and See"

(Inspired by Monica Cellio)

2

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